Mass Effect 2: Deus ex Vitam
by RT.Walker
Summary: Human colonies are disappearing and there is only one man who can stop them for good. Commander John Shepard. With political barriers and a team that has trust issues, he is tasked in stopping this enemy with the resources he's got. He will experience love and hate on his heroric journey plus the stresses of combat but he will also find comradely. Not stictly cannon (new character)
1. Prologue

**Mass Effect 2: Deus Ex Vitam**

All rights toward EA/BIOWARE Mass Effect universe

Introduction

Miranda Lawson stared out through the vast panoramic glass of the space station to the bright star that it orbits wearing her usual skin tight white and black

uniform. She liked the vast openness of space because of the hidden beauty it held, even though there was danger, she loved the splendor and beauty of it. She

always cherished these small things of beauty, because when she was a child her father was always hard on her and she relied on the small things to keep her

more or less sane. But then again her father always down played her and made her feel worthless so she couldn't cherish these moments for long and she still

doesn't cherish them and just brushes it off. Some habits are harder to change than others. Her thoughts were interrupted, by her boss asking about her

current assignment.

"What do you think of him? Humanities greatest champion", the boss said with his crusty old voice as he took a puff of his high-end cigarette.

She replied with her Australian accent and distrust of his character not turning to face him, "He's a hero and I have no time for heroes because heroes come

with baggage."

"He isn't like most heroes, read his dossier it'll surprise you", he replied as he took another puff of his cigarette.

"I know one thing about him that makes him who we need…" she replied in a professional tone as she paused in mid sentence. "Shepard did everything right

more than we could have hoped for, saving the Citadel EVEN saving the council, humanity has the trust of the entire galaxy." She paused conflicted because

even after all that has happened humanity will always be looked down upon by the other races as a second rate species. "But still it's not enough…" she

concluded.

" Our sacrifices have earned the Councils gratitude, but Shepard still remains our best hope." Her boss replied calmly continuing to smoke his cigarette, while

sitting in his chair over looking holographic interfaces that showed information. He showed no emotion while discussing this subject, even when his assistant

silently interrupts the conversation by handing him a data pad.

Miranda turned around and swayed toward her boss and walked through the holographic interfaces distorting the picture, "But they're sending him to fight Geth,

GETH. We both know that they aren't the real threat, the Reapers are still out there." Since the battle of the Citadel she spent hours and hours, weeks upon

weeks, studying Saren's army of Geth and the Reapers, and she concluded that the Reapers are the ones they should be focusing on.

Her boss inhaled his cigarette, "And its up to us to stop them" and exhaled, blowing out the smoke he inhaled

Miranda replied agitated, "The Council will never accept our help, they'll never trust Cerberus, even after everything humanity has accomplished." She turned to

the holographic interfaces and saw Shepard's dossier, "But... Shepard, they'll follow him. He's a hero a bloody icon. But he's just one man, if we lose Shepard

Humanity might well follow." She said with a hint of hate because he has the means to be another hero persona.

The boss put his cigarette in the ashtray in his chair and replied coolly, "then see to it that we done lose him."

"We might as well have him join us, for insurance." She already planned this out thoroughly, her complicated mind always was prepared and always thinks quick.

"I'll leave that up to you"


	2. Chapter 1: Man Down

**MASS EFFECT 2 CH 1: Man Down**

**All rights toward EA/BIOWARE Mass Effect universe, I don't own any of it, this is purely a fan fiction**

The sleek, shiny, and high-speed form of the Alliance SSV Normandy dropped out of FTL (Faster Than Light) deep in terminus space on another routine patrol in

search of more Geth activity. The Council tasked the first human Spectre Commander John Shepard and his crew on board the Normandy to hunt down any

hostile Geth within the Terminus. It has been a while since Commander Shepard and his crew seen any Geth contact since the Battle of Citadel a months earlier.

Everyone besides Commander Shepard is treating this patrol route a routine, he knows from experience that nothing is routine…

The Normandy glides past the dark side of an unknown planet scanning for any signs of Geth activity. Onboard Navy Flight Lieutenant of the SSV Normandy Jeff

Moreau, call sign Joker, mans the helm and flies the Normandy steadily near the planetary body, making sure to be cautious incase of any hostile aggression.

" It's a small world after all, It's a small world after all it's a SMALL small small world", Joker sang jokingly in the bridge while steadily steering the ship.

"Centuries since the song first came out, its still really annoying every time", replied an ensign jokingly. She was sitting to the right of Joker, monitoring the long-

range scanners of the Normandy.

"Hey I'm just lightning the mood here", Joker replied laughing. Everyone in the Normandy Bridge and CIC (Combat Information Center) was working hard at

their stations scanning for threats, and officers were moving from place to place making their rounds. Joker knew the Executive officer (XO) Pressly was coming

up to the bridge for a status report. Joker stated professionally, "Disengaging FTL drives, emissions sinks active, board is green we are running silent, stealth

systems are engaged."

"We're wasting our time. Four days searching up and down this sector, and we haven't found any signs of Geth activity." Pressly stated annoyed of this routing

patrol the council sent them on as he read his data pad.

"Three ships went missing the passed month, something happened to them", Joker said plainly.

"My money is on slavers, terminus systems are crawling with them."

Ashley woke up later than usual in a bed that wasn't hers, it was Shepard's bed and she enjoyed being in his cabin more than her crew quarters. Shepard told

her section officer that he had a special assignment for her so she would not be at her post during the night, that night her special assignment was to be in her

commander's bed. The memories of last night went through her mind as she stretched the sleep away. She smiled at the thoughts. She knew Shepard wasn't in

the cabin he was probably making his rounds as usual. She always knew he wanted to stick around but the good commander in him couldn't do it.

Back on the bridge an ensign to the left of Joker spotted something strange on her scanners, "picking up something on the long-range scanners. Unidentified

cruiser. Looks like a cruiser."

Joker focused, "Hmm doesn't match any known signatures." The Normandy maintained heading away from the planet.

"Cruiser is changing course. Now on intercept trajectory."

Pressly said surprised, "Can't be. Stealth systems are engaged. There is no way a Geth ship could…"

Joker interrupted with stress in his voice, "It's not the Geth… BRACE FOR EVASIVE MANEVUERS!" He called out to everyone on the bridge, as he attempted to

avoid the intercepting ship.

The Normandy attempted to avoid the ship but for no avail. The Cruiser unleashed an energy weapon on the Normandy and hit the starboard side of the small

Alliance frigate. The hostile cruiser continued to hit the ship with precision from that energy weapon. On board the Normandy the energy weapon ripped through

the small frigates shields.

Pressly yelled in pain as an explosion on the bridge killed XO Pressly. The ensign next to Joker got up from her post and yelled in distress, " PRESSLY!" as she

tried to run for the XO, but another explosion behind her killed her before she got to him. Her lifeless corpse hit the deck next to Pressly. More explosions ripped

through the bridge and CIC, as more and more naval personnel were hit. The sounds of men and women screaming, hurt and frightened went through the ship.

Joker in distress called out status reports over the intercom to where ever Shepard was, " Kinetic barriers are down, multiple hull breaches, weapons offline." He

turned to the co-pilot to his left, "Somebody get that fire out" he pointed at the fire to where the ensign used to be and her work station was starting to burn

bigger threatening Jokers ability to fly the ship.

The hostile cruiser was now on top of the Normandy and continued to bombard the small Alliance vessel with its main energy weapon. Normandy was twenty

times smaller than the hostile cruiser, the Normandy had no chance without weapons, the crippled ship made its way to a small moon doing its best to flea. One

explosion after another continued to go across the ship as the hostile cruiser continued to pick at it. The Normandy hung lazily to its starboard side as it took the

incoming hits from the enemy.

Down near the crew quarters of the Normandy the red alert lights were on as the alarms were going off through out the ship. The Normandy had its red interior

emergency lights on to save as much power as possible to keep life support on. The ship was shaking with each hit it took and explosions rippled through out the

ship. Ashley ran through the crew quarters in her combat pressurized armor and her combat helmet in hand, as other personnel ran the opposite direction to

where they needed to be. She ran passed the elevator avoiding explosions and passed more dead bodies that were killed from the explosions. She continued to

run up the small flight of steps toward the cryo pods hallway where Shepard was deploying the beacon. Fires were sprouting all around her as the ship shook

with each hit.

She called out to him in distress and fear, "SHEPARD!" as she stopped a few steps away from him. She saw Shepard in his armor as he was deploying.

Shepard replied coolly while putting his helmet, "The distress beacon is ready for launch."

Ashley raised her voice on top of the explosions and screams from the crew, "Will the Alliance be here in time?!". She knew it would be a long shot but she had

to know.

An explosion behind her flung her toward Shepard. Shepard caught her with a firm grip and held her steady while she tried to hold her own balance. Shepard

reassuringly gripped her hand and stated coolly, "The Alliance won't abandon us we just have to hold on." He turned around and saw the monitor behind him

turned dark and fires started to rise. He let go of her hand and grabbed a fire extinguisher and started to fight the fires. "Get everyone onto the escape pods and

off this ship." He tossed Ashley the fire extinguisher while he tried to turn on the fire fighting systems.

"Joker is still on the bridge he wont evacuate." She turned around to look at Shepard and argued "I'm not leaving either."

Shepard turned around and took the fire extinguisher from her and said calmly, "I need you to get the crew to the escape pods." He turned toward the

deactivated monitor to launch the beacon and did his best to walk forward while the ship shook and mostly everything around him was burning.

"But Shepard…" she wanted to protest

Shepard turned his head after hitting the launch button, and with authority said, "Ashley GO. Now."

"Aye Aye", she turned around and looked back at Shepard and ran to the escape pods.

She rounded the corner toward the first escape pod that was open and waited at the entrance waiting for more people to get in. "EVRYBODY IN GO GO GO!" she

yelled as more people rounded to corner to the escape pod. She saw the last person of the group round the corner a young girl who was about 19 sprinting

toward her. But an explosion to her right killed her and threw her body to the ground. Blood pooled around the body and Ashley stared at her for a moment and

knew she was gone, and then Ashley jumped into the escape pod and sat down and strapped in. Normandy continued to be hit multiple times and many parts of

the ship are venting oxygen into space. There wasn't much holding the ship together as the hostile cruiser continued to bombard the Normandy relentlessly with

no end at sight. Within seconds a hatch opened up on the Normandy launching most of the escape pods into space.

Shepard ran through the burning crew quarters, not stopping for anything, not even the random explosions that are going off around him. He ran up the flight of

stairs to the CIC as the red emergency lights beam down on him as he ran to the door. As the ship shook apart, he did his best to maintain his balance waiting

for the door to open up to the CIC. The onboard VI (Virtual Intelligence), which sounded different due to lack of power, stated with its synthetic voice, "Warning

CIC Hull breach".

"Understood, open the door."

The door opened revealing the CIC and outer space with the moon dangerously close. The air rushes out around him into space as his mag boots kept

magnetically attached to the deck. Debris floats around the ship and the once busy CIC with crew working around in it, was dark and empty with everything

floating around with no signs of life. Shepard walked forward and the ship shook underneath him as it got hit again. He slowly walked with purpose towards the

bridge hoping to see Joker still alive. Shepard continued on the path toward the bridge, pushing away a chair that was floating near by his head. He saw Joker

still alive trying his best to keep the ship alive, safe behind a pressurized energy field providing him atmosphere to live. Joker had on a small helmet that provided

him oxygen incase the oxygen in his small atmosphere was lost. Shepard ran through the energy field to get his friend out of there.

"Come on Joker! We have to get out of here!" Shepard was right next to Joker at this point and he knew the ship was falling apart, he also knew that Joker

knew that this ship wont make it.

Joker yelled in distress, "NO I WON'T ABANDON THE NORMANDY, I CAN STILL SAVE HER". A ship he served on, that his Commander served on, a ship he loved,

his ship was dying and he wouldn't let her go without a fight.

"Joker, we have to GO now, the ship is falling apart, we don't have anymore time" Shepard stated plainly.

"How can we just let her die?!"

Shepard replied calmly. "The Normandy's lost, you going down with the ship wont make it better." With years of experience under his belt, Shepard knew being

cool and collected in stressful situations was important.

"Yea okay, help me up." Joker was depressed that he had to go, but it was better than dying. He looked up through the bridge view port and saw the hostile

cruiser maneuvering for another attack run. "It's coming back for another attack run!" he yelled in distress.

The Normandy's orbit was deteriorating steadily towards the surface of the moon. The hostile cruiser positioned itself just above the dying Normandy and

charged its energy weapon, preparing to make the kill, to end the Normandy once and for all. The cruiser fired a long beam of pure energy toward the Normandy,

cutting into the already crippled ship. Explosions rippled throughout the limping ship.

Shepard turned around and look out into the vacuum exposed CIC and saw the laser cutting into the ship. Vast explosions shook the ship underneath him while

he stood there helplessly watching his ship being cut apart. Explosions flung debris everywhere while the beam cut. Shepard ran back to Joker without looking

back and grabbed Jokers arm. Joker gasped in pain, "AGH Watch the arm". Shepard didn't hear him already knowing that Joker has a disease of hollow bones.

Shepard threw Jokers arm over his shoulder and walked him to the bridge escape pod. Doing his best to keep them from falling when the ship shook from being

hit.

Joker ached as Shepard walked him toward the escape pod, letting out gasps as he moved. Explosions shook the ship underneath them as they walked. The

escape pod door opened up in front of them. Shepard slowly put Joker into the escape pod, an explosion behind Shepard distracted him and Shepard let go of

Joker. Joker was already in the pod and buckled in and waiting for his Commander. Shepard looked back at the CIC and a series of huge explosions started to cut

the ship in half. He saw the stern of the ship twist and was about to break away when an explosion in front of him flung him into the bulkhead behind him away

from the escape pod. Shepard was floating near the bulkhead when explosions from fuel lines underneath the deck started to detonate from fire.

"Commander! Shepard!" Joker called helplessly watching Shepard about to be obliterated.

Shepard knew he couldn't make it back to Joker so he punched the remote launch button from the bulkhead. Launching Joker and the pod into space. Then in a

split of a second the ship exploded with Shepard still floating inside the bridge.

The rest of the escape pods that ejected first were all in a safe distance. The hostile cruiser wasn't focusing its attention on them. Ashley floating inside the pod

already detached from her seat, watched as the ship broke apart. She had a look of distress on her face and she knew everyone could see it. She wondered if

Shepard was okay, if Shepard was alive, all these ifs went through her mind. She spotted one last pod escape the ship as the ship finally exploded in a distance in

a bright yellow orange light. Giant chunks of the ship fell toward the surface of the moon.

Engineer Adams aboard Ashley's escape pod made contact with the last escape pod to jettison, "Escape pod 10 come in over, Joker? Commander Shepard?"

Joker replied in a monotone voice, "It's just me…Shepard stayed behind"

"WHAT?!", Ashley yelled in fear as she turned back to the escape pods view port. She saw someone in the distance, falling towards the surface. Lifeless. Ashley

looked in shock. A single tear fell from her face, her best friend and lover, perished in a remote part of the Galaxy alone. There wasn't a single dry face in any of

the escape pods.

Joker sat there alone in his own pod, tearing of the loss of his best friend. Plagued by the sight of his comrades dying and his beloved ship gone. In a time of 10

minutes everything and everyone he knew and loved was taken away from him. Anger and sadness went through his body, but he can't do anything now. He

looked up to see the hostile cruiser jump away in FTL.


	3. Chapter 2: Iron Giant Awakes

**MASS EFFECT 2: Ch2: Iron Giant awakes **

**All rights toward EA/BIOWARE Mass Effect universe, I don't own any of it, this is purely a fan fiction **

Miranda woke up the next morning for another tedious yet very important project that needs to be done as soon as possible for her boss, in a remote space  
station out in the fridges of space. Her initial task was to convince Shepard to join her employers organization, so they can help each other take down the  
Reapers and who ever is responsible for countless colony disappearances. But Shepard went missing in action along with his ship and part of his crew  
mysteriously out in the terminus two years ago. Shepard was dead that much was certain. But after that her boss and his organization found worked with one of  
Shepard's old friends they found acquired his lifeless body. Her boss ordered her to put him back together, to bring him back to life, thus the Lazarus project was  
created. She accepted the project and was given an initial budget, which at the time seemed reasonable. But she remembered then that she was bringing back  
someone from the dead. She needed the real Shepard so she couldn't clone him, she needed him to have the same memories, the same looks, and the same  
character, if anything at the slightest was off, she would have failed her project. Since she's a perfectionist and hates to fail and accepts nothing but the best, she  
refused to let the project fail.

She got dressed in her usual skintight black and white uniform to go down to the research bay to check on Shepard's condition on board the Lazarus research space station. It has been 2 years since she got this assignment and everything was going well, she is actually surprised for once on how well this is turning out. There are signs of life in it, him, but he still hasn't woken up from a "coma" from being dead. Most of his body was burnt and the long exposure of the vacuum of space took a toll on his body. But with the help of two science degrees she was able to replenish his body, with some assistance from cybernetics, and medical research and personnel. She, being genetically created to be the perfect woman, with the looks and intelligence, she already knew how to get started. She moved a lock of dark brown hair away from her face as she left her quarters to the research bay.

She walked fast with her high heels clicking across the floor, as she neared the research bay waiting for a status report from the attending specialist Wilson.

Shepard couldn't see a thing; all he can hear were muffled voices and slight beeping from what he assumed was a heart monitor. But he didn't understand, a second ago he was onboard the Normandy as it was burning from an unknown enemy and he was getting Joker off the ship, then everything went blank. He couldn't remember a thing after that.

All of a sudden he was hit with a surge of pain throughout his body. His eyes shot open to see a blinding light beaming down onto his face. He heard a woman with an Australian accent in a serious tone, "there on the monitor something is wrong."

Then a man with a crusty voice, "He's reacting to outside stimuli. Showing an awareness of his surroundings."

Shepard started to breathe harder as his pulse escalated and the surge of pain returned. He saw a woman with dark hair and white skin walk toward him, but all he can focus on was the pain.

"My god Miranda, I think he's waking up." Wilson said genuinely surprised. He didn't think this was going to work at all.

"Damn it Wilson, he isn't ready yet…" Miranda's sentence was cut off.

Shepard shot up on the bed screaming in pain. He hurriedly got off the bed, but the surge of pain got worse and worse, this time in his chest, and his head throbbed with pain he couldn't even imagine. He put his hands on his head to try to fight the pain but to no avail. He continued to scream in pain as he limped into trays of scalpels' and medical supplies and pushing them onto the floor. He fell onto his knees and screamed with so much pain, the cords from the heart monitor and brain activity monitor stretched as there were still attached when he fell.

Wilson looked down on Shepard surprised and in shock. Miranda on the other hand was not. She was extremely angry with Wilson for not being careful. "Give him the sedative." Miranda ordered. Wilson came over and hit Shepard in the arm with a syringe, but Shepard wouldn't stop moving.

Shepard felt another sharp pain in his arm and turned his head towards the pain. His vision blurred but he knew it couldn't be good. He felt that who ever was doing this to him was the enemy. So within a second of feeling the sharp pain, he used as much energy as he could in him since waking up, to hit the enemy square in the face. Shepard didn't see him but felt his fist make contact with something he assumed was its nose. His vision began blur some more.

Wilson fell back in pain with clearly a broken nose; he put his hands over his nose while blood fell. "It's not working! his heart rate is climbing!"

Miranda was looking at the monitor that displayed Shepard heart rate, but she already knew if she didn't calm Shepard down he would die from a heart attack."Give him a sedative now!"

Wilson, with one hand on his nose and another hand on the syringe, popped Shepard another sedative. This time Shepard felt its effects and fell on his back. His vision started to blur even more. His breathing slowed, while he lay on the cold laboratory floor. Miranda now on her knees looked down on Shepard and her gloved hands held his head straight. Before Shepard passed out, his last thought was how extremely beautiful this woman was. The only thing he saw clear…

Miranda, Wilson and a few other lab techs helped put Shepard back on the gurney. "Heart rate stabilizing, stats returning to normal range." Wilson stated while monitoring his vital signs. "We almost lost him there."

"I told you your estimates were off. Run the numbers again." Miranda was now extremely mad at Wilson's incompetence for almost losing Shepard, a project she has devoted almost all of her time on since she was assigned.

She left Wilson alone with Shepard to run his calculations as she proceeded to her office to do more work in the D wing. She had to go file a report to her boss about this, eventuality. She suspects that her boss would treat it as a success because Shepard indeed was alive for the most part, even though there was Wilson's incompetence.

She arrived to her office and sat down in her leather chair to file the report. She put her right hand on her chest and took a deep breath, like she was blowing away the stress of almost losing her project. She turned on her computer and started filing the report to her boss.

Shepard was just starting to wake up; when he started feeling the whole room shake. Shepard started to open his eyes, and he was back in the same room he was in earlier, but he didn't know how long he has been there. He heard a female voice speaking to him over the intercom, that same voice he heard before when he first woke up.

"Wake up Commander." The a familiar female Australian voice said urgently. "Shepard you need to get up now! Do you hear me? The station is under attack."

Shepard leaned up and put a hand over his face, and felt a bunch of scars he didn't remember having. Shepard sat up vertically and found out painfully how sore he was, like he was working out for a whole twenty-four hours. He took a glimpse of his body and was clothed in clothing he didn't know he owned, but gunfire snapped him back into reality. He looked up past the windows of the med bay and saw bullets flying past and fire rising behind them.

The woman's Australian voice came back to life on the intercom, "Shepard, your scars aren't healed yet but I need you to get moving, this facility is under attack".

Shepard nodded and pushed all the medical devices and equipment away from him as he jumped off the bed. He looked around in an unfamiliar territory and calculated that he needed to find some sort of…

The woman's voice cut his thoughts off, "There is a pistol in the storage locker behind you."

Well that answers that question, Shepard thought to himself. He quickly broke open the locker and grabbed the sidearm, an M-3 Predator standard military pistol. He checked if it was loaded, grabbed additional thermal clips for ammo, and then made his way toward the exit door. On his way he saw, the door being sliced with a plasma cutter, and instantly ran for cover. His training kicked in, even in his sore condition. The door slid open and out came three security LOKI mechs armed to the teeth. He was about to expose himself to let them know he was friendly but noticed that there faceplates were red instead of blue. Red meaning in combat stance and blue meaning civil aid.

Shepard was behind a small wall that was about four feet tall and stretched to the middle of the room. He waited till the mechs were in prime position for him to engage. He was about to take the shot, when the woman's voice broke through the intercom again.

"Shepard, destroy the mechs, the mechs are hostile."

Shepard raised his weapon and fired three times, one bullet for each mech. Each shot travel straight and true into the mechs' head. Destroying their processors and rendering them powerless and they fell to the floor. Shepard got up and reloaded then jumped over the small wall to the exit.

The woman's voice cracked over the intercom once again, "Shepard, continue down the hall way to the lobby, then go up the stairs to the hallway. Be aware mechs are present within the lobby."

Shepard replied, not knowing if she could hear him, "understood…"

He got to the end of the hallway and slid his hand over the door controls, and the door slid open. Waiting on the other side was indeed 3 more mechs he had to deal with. She must have been watching his progress through the security cameras, he quickly thought. He ran forward shooting the two mechs directly in front of him expertly in the faceplate and without stopping twisted his body right and popped the last mech in the faceplate. He ended up in the middle of the room and only used three rounds. He chuckled to himself and reloaded. He ran up the stairs and awaited for instructions.

"Shepard, take a left go down the hall way and exit on the last door on the right."

Shepard turned and ran toward his point down the hallway. The hallway had large windows peering to the other adjacent hallway on the left, and had doors to rooms and pathways on the right. In the middle of the hallway he heard someone scream for help on the other side of the glass window on his left. He turned and saw a man and a woman hitting the glass surrounded by fire. Shepard couldn't let them die, so he shot the glass but with no avail. The glass was resistant to laser fire. He heard a rumble on the floor as he saw a huge lumbering heavy LOKI mech walk through the burning inferno on their side of the window. The mech shot a missile at them, and they were vaporized in a blink of an eye, with blood splattered on the window. Shepard couldn't do anything now, he did all he could, now he had to get off this station.

Shepard rounded another corridor when he reached a balcony over looking what looked to him like fuel cells. He looked over the balcony and the door on the far side opened up presenting a force of five mechs.

The intercom blared to life, "Take out the mechs and take the elevator down one floor and go through the far exit"

Shepard needed to hurry; he looked around for any improvised solutions and spotted a locker of some sorts. Then of course the mechs started shooting at him. He broke in the locker while under fire and spotted a M-100 drum loaded grenade launcher, with only one grenade loaded. Perfect. At least it was something for him to use. He peered over the balcony wall and fired the grenade at the mass of mechs. The detonation killed all of them and ruptured a small hole on the fuel cell, causing a leak of flammable liquid fuel peered out. He took the elevator down one floor as instructed and ran to the exit.

"Shepard, you can't …", her voice was cut off from the intercom.

"Ma'am? You still there?" Shepard's mind started to process scenarios for him to get off the station in the eventuality of losing contact with his guardian angel. He concluded, since she saved his life, he would go save hers if she were in trouble.

Her voice broke through raised and in static, "Get to the shuttles through the…" the connection was cut by gunfire and then there was static.

Shepard knew what he had to do. She saved his life, and now he will go save hers. But first he had to find a rid out of here and secure it. No use saving a damsel in distress if you don't have an extraction plan to get both of you out alive.

He went through the door and turned left. Went down the hallway where he ran into a small flight of stairs connected to a fork with an office attached to the left side of the fork. He ran up the stairs and quickly peeked into the office for any survivors. He saw bodies strung out all around the floor. He counted three, three all shot down by the mechs. Shepard didn't have time to investigate the small office so he ran forward, turning left at the fork. He sprinted down the hall way and the whole time he heard explosions, gunfire, and people screaming. Who could of done this, hacked the security mech controls to fire on the people onboard the station.

He reached the end of the hallway and went through the door to an open plaza. Giant panoramic vertical window on the right and the plaza on the left, the plaza was small and only took half of the room, the other half had a straight 100 meter drop down to superstructure of the station. He stepped through the door and saw another human being (finally) a tall well bilt black individual under fire from mechs on the upper balcony, about 10 feet above him on the other side of the area.

Shepard ran forward firing on the mechs on the other side trying to keep himself alive AND the unknown individual. None of them went down, he slid into cover and took a glimpse of how much mechs were actually there, he counted five. Shepard calm and collected reloaded his weapon.

"What are you doing here? Thought you were still work in progress?" the unknown individual said to Shepard.

"I just woke up, you probably know more than I do." Shepard had to raise his voice over the noise of gunfire.

"I'm Jacob Taylor, I've been station here for…" Jacob peered over the cover and was interrupted by a mech.

The mechs synthesized voice came through its voice module, "Hostiles detected." And opened fire ad more mechs came through the door.

A bullet hit near Jacob's head and he flinched behind cover, "DAMNIT." He quickly got his composure and rapidly got up and popped a mech in the faceplate, rendering the mech powerless as its head exploded. Jacob returned to cover, more worried about Miranda than his own life, his thoughts raced to where she could be right now. Speaking of Miranda. "Things must be a whole lot worse if Miranda has you running around. Ill fill you in with the details but we have to find a shuttle first."

Miranda, that must be the woman that saved me, Shepard quickly thought to himself. "Alright Jacob, this is your station, lead the way." Shepard said, quickly going back into action mode.

"We're low on thermal clips, but I'm a biotic. Just give the word when you want me to hit them with the good stuff." Jacob said confidently.

"Ready to rock n'roll"

Both Shepard and Jacob got up from cover and firing at the mechs, now 10 total. Shepard pulling the trigger rapidly nailed four mechs, destroying three damaging the fourth. Shepard went back to cover and reloaded as the mechs sent another volley of rounds toward them. Jacob went back to cover as well to reload. As bullets hit around them, both of them seemed cool and collected.

"Jacob, can you do a biotic throw?" Shepard asked over the gunfire

"Hell yea, sir"

"Good, grab the mech on the far left and throw him in front of the other seven mechs."

"You got it." Jacob said while he got up, using his biotics to grab the mech on the left, he threw it, in front of the mech formation.

As the mech floated over the mass of the formation, the mechs continued to fire, aside the one that was floating. Shepard got up from cover, aimed his pistol at center mass of the floating mech and fired one round. That one round hits the mechs power system causing a explosion equivalent to a hand grenade in mid air, sending parts of the mech flying in every direction. The detonation caused Shepard and Jacob to hide behind cover rapidly.

Shepard and Jacob slowly peered over their cover to see what was left. The explosion destroyed five mechs, and damaged the last two. Shepard and Jacob quickly got up and popped up and rapidly finished the last two with headshots. Shepard investigated the carnage and turned to face Jacob.

"So, I'm sure you got a lot of questions, what do you like to know." Jacob stated plainly knowing already the station might be close to burning right now.

Shepard wanted to know what happened to him, he wanted to know why he was there, where is his friends; he wanted to know all the answers. But he couldn't the station wasn't safe for them to just sit down and talk. Gunfire could be heard throughout the station, screaming from personnel being killed.

"We'll talk about it later, we need to find a way off this station, and find the woman whom I assume is Miranda, who saved my life a while ago and get her off this station," Shepard stated. "Now what's the quickest route to the shuttles?"

"Depends on the where the Mechs are thickest. Probably better if we stuck to the…" Jacob was interrupted by his Omni tool radio coming online.

A familiar voice to Shepard came on Jacobs Omni tool and urgently said, "Check, Check, is anyone on this frequency? Anyone still alive out there? Hello?"

"Wilson, this is Jacob, I'm with Commander Shepard, we just took out a wave of mechs over at D wing"

"Shepard is alive? How the hell… never mind. You need to get him out of there, get to the service tunnels and head to the network control room."

"Copy that Wilson, stay on this frequency."

Shepard readied his weapon and waited by the door while he listened to Jacob on the radio

Jacob ran over to Shepard and opened the door, "Follow me, Ill get us to the service tunnels."

Shepard and Jacob made their way quickly through the hallways toward the service tunnels. The hallways had the same designs like the ones Shepard saw earlier, large windows of the adjacent hallway on the left and room on the right. Typical space architecture, Shepard mused to himself. Shepard and Jacob saw the countless bodies strung about on the floor and against the wall. Bullet holes all over the place, followed by blood splatters where the people went down. Then there were blood puddles where the blood poured out of their body. Shepard and Jacob, weapons at the ready rounded the corner cautiously, making sure there were no hostiles present made it to the service tunnel entrance.

The door slid open and exposed a room of pipes all around with a small pathway cutting through the room. Shepard and Jacob went through the door and spotted a mech curled up on idle mode at the end of the first turn in the room. As they got closer, the mech started to stand up at the same time drawing its weapon.

"Shit," Shepard said as he pulled the trigger unleashing five rounds into the mech. The mech flinching while it got hit fell back and clanked to the floor, destroyed. Shepard lowered his weapon as Jacob went in front of him taking point to face a wave of three mechs by the exit.

Shepard and Jacob opened fire on the mechs, taking down two instantly. The third mech started to push forward opening fire on Shepard and Jacob. They ran to cover to a pair of pipes in front of the exit door and reloaded. The exit was a good twenty feet from them. Good thing mechs don't have the sense of tactics, Shepard thought, as he signaled Jacob that he was moving around to the left. He jumped through a gap between two horizontal pipes, while the mech was still shooting at Jacob. Shepard slowly came behind the mech with his gun and shot its neck, causing the mech to spark and shake rapidly. But the mech was still active; it was only going to be disabled for a few seconds. Shepard quickly grabbed the head of the mech and twisted it back, while the mech started to fight back. Shepard twisted it some more and with his entire mite he pulled the head out of the mechs body.

The bullet in the back of the mechs neck weakened the mechs joints making it easier for Shepard to pull its head out. Jacob sat there surprised while he watched it happen. He spotted another mech behind Shepard, and Jacob quickly rolled out of cover to get a better angle at the mech and shot it in the faceplate without harming Shepard. The mech keeled over dead as it hit the floor with a clang.

Shepard turned around and looked back at Jacob, "Thanks." Jacob smiled and nodded, while he turned on his radio.

"Wilson this room was crawling with mechs!"

Wilson's voice blared through the radio, "The whole station is crawling with mechs! I'm doing the best I can."

Shepard saw the door slide open as more mechs started to come through. Shepard slid behind another pipe and drew his weapon to engage the enemy. Jacob fired off a few rounds while he ran to cover, hitting and damaging the lead mech. Shepard leaned out of his cover slightly and finished it off with a few body shots.

"Wilson, find us another route, preferably one that doesn't lead us into another enemy squad" Jacob yelled in his Omni radio.

"Oh god, they found me! Help!"

"Wilson find us a way out of here!"

"Just keep moving! Head toward the control room. Don't get pinned down!" Wilson replied in distress as the radio started to crackle with static.

Shepard finished off the hostile mechs with minimal effort. He got back into the swing of things and is more focused on getting off the station. Shepard signaled to Jacob to move forward out of the service tunnel and into another hallway. They cautiously jogged through the corridors, checking each corner as they moved forward. Signs of battle were all over the hallways, bullet holes, dead bodies, and blood.

They proceeded up the flight of stairs, Shepard rounded the corner left and spotted an office.

"That was Miranda's office…" Jacob stated plainly.

Shepard looked at Jacob, "Come on lets go secure a shuttles, then we can go look for Miranda."

"Yes sir."

Shepard went to the door on the opposite side and proceeded down the hallway. He spotted the control room down the long stretch of the hallway.

Jacob's radio blared to life, "HELP THEY FOUND ME, THEIR OUT OF CONTROL!"

"Shepard, we have to hurry!"

Shepard started to sprint down the hallway toward the server rooms. Jacob's radio transmission was cut, losing contact with Wilson.

After a long sprint to the server room, Shepard and Jacob set up at the door to breach. Jacob slid his hand over the door interface and the door slid and Jacob went in at the same time and spotted whom Shepard assumed was Wilson on the floor, bleeding from the leg. Shepard and Jacob scanned the room, and spotted no hostile activity, now it was time to tend to the wounded man.

Wilson sounded off in pain, "Bastards got me in the leg."

"Lets get you some help and get you the hell out of here." Shepard said comfortingly.

"We aren't going anywhere until we fix my leg." Wilson replied agitated.

Shepard spotted a medical storage cabinet on the far wall to the right of Wilson. Shepard quickly ran over to the locker, opened it, and grabbed the medi-gel packet that was in there. He returned with haste to Wilson to apply the gel on the bleeding leg. Shepard kneeled down next to Wilson and slowly applied the medical formula, easing the pain on Wilson, and stops the bleeding entirely from his leg.

Wilson slowly got up, feeling the numbness in his leg, "Thanks Shepard, I never thought you'd be saving my life. Guess that makes us even now hm."

"I remember you, you were in the medical room with me, and I think I punched you were the one I hit." Shepard said connecting the dots.

"Yeah that was me, pretty good hit Shepard." Wilson turned to Jacob, "I thought maybe I could shut down the security mechs, but whoever did this fried the whole system, making it completely irreversible."

Whatever Wilson was saying didn't make sense to Jacob. He belonged in the bio wing he wouldn't have or shouldn't have security mech clearance. Jacob confronted Wilson immediately, "We didn't ask for what you were doing. Why do you even have mech security clearance, you work in the bio wing."

"Weren't you listening? I came here to fix this. Besides I was shot how do you explain that?" Wilson said defensively.

That didn't add up, Shepard too was confused on why Wilson had security mech clearance when he was a medical assistant in the bio wing. Something didn't feel right with this guy. In the midst of the war zone on the station, Shepard didn't have time to worry about who did it. He had to get them off the station and find Miranda.

"I don't trust any of you yet and this whole place is a new to me AND I don't know what happened to me yet, so lets get the hell out of here first and then we'll figure it out." Shepard stated.

"Right Shepard, we also need to find Miranda" urgently replied Jacob

"No way she was over in D wing, mechs were all over that sector there is no way she could make it." Wilson argued

"A bunch of mechs won't drop Miranda, she's got to be alive." Jacob shot back.

"There are two explanations, either she's dead or she's a traitor, we can't go back for her either way." Wilson pushed.

"She's not a traitor, she helped me out of the initial strike earlier. So once we get the shuttle we can put Jacob's mind at rest and find Miranda." Shepard intervened in his commanding voice.

"Fine…" Wilson was cut short by noise behind him.

A door on the far side of the room behind Wilson opened up revealing three LOKI mechs. They marched forward and opened fire on them. Jacob and Wilson dove to cover, while Shepard just stood there, staring down the mechs while under fire. Wilson thought he froze up in combat. But Shepard just brought his pistol up and shot a fuel cell directly when the mechs were close.

The blast destroyed all three mechs instantly, leaving nothing but smoldering metal parts. Jacob and Wilson got out of cover as Shepard signaled them to move forward to get to the shuttles.

"Shepard, before we go any further, I think you need to know what's what. So if I tell you who we are working for will you trust me" Jacob stopped Shepard.

"This isn't the best time Jacob." Wilson pointed out.

"We need him to trust us, so he doesn't expect a shot in the back." Jacob retorted.

Wilson snorted, "If you want to piss off the boss, its your ass."

"The Lazarus project, the program that rebuilt you…is funded and controlled by Cerberus." Jacob said straight out.

"Rebuilt me? What?" Shepard said confused.

"You were dead, killed in action by a Collector attack, two years ago. Cerberus helped find you and brought you back from the dead as yourself to make you who you were and what you were before you died." Jacob stated.

"Ah, kind of hard to put my head around this right now." Shepard said confused, the Normandy attack felt almost a day ago, but he didn't remember actually dying. "And you said you were working for Cerberus. Some pro human splinter group right?"

"That's what the Alliance wants you to think. After a few months the Alliance and the Council stopped searching for you. They gave up. The Illusive man spent billions to find you and even more to bring you back." Jacob stated plainly.

"The Illusive man is he your boss." Shepard wondered.

"He runs the entire Cerberus organization." Jacob pointed out. "I'll bring you to meet him when we get out of here."

"We can't stop to answer questions all the way right now, we still need a ride out of here." Shepard cut the conversation short.

Shepard lead the squad through the door way that the mechs came out of, and continued to round the corner. He looked down the corridor and on his left he saw a huge quantity of crates messily stacked on top of each other as barricade to block the entrance on the left. But it seems the mechs still got through because there were still dead bodies and signs of combat in the hallway. The far door at the end of the hall way was locked down tight as far as he could tell, but the only other door on his right was unlocked.

Jacob passed him and opened up the door for the squad. Shepard continued jog cautiously down the steps form the door to the door on the bottom. Jacob and Wilson caught up to him and got into position, not knowing what was on the other side. The door slid open and revealed a vast area of crates and landing pads. Shepard assumed he was in the shuttle bay and cargo area.

Shepard looked down in front of him and saw a pair of mechs starting to unfold to combat stature. His team opened up and fired upon the mechs before they were able to get a round off. The mechs were destroyed within seconds. Shepard led the team around the crates and up the stairs to the bridge that connected the control tower and the gate to the shuttles.

They got on top of the bridge and looked left and spotted another additional two mechs in folded form. Shepard and the rest of his team opened fire on the mechs and expertly brought down the mechs before they got up. The door at the gate opened up 100 yards away from the squad bringing out 5 mechs to play. Shepard and the rest of his squad slid into cover behind crates. Shooting the mechs at long range. The mechs progressed forward not stopping because they don't feel pain, but only flinch to gunfire. One mech at a time fell to the squads' pistol fire. The last mech was taken down by Jacob's bullet, when he nailed it in the faceplate, causing the mech to keel over deactivated.

Shepard gave Wilson the hand signal to take point toward the gate. Wilson ran forward and Jacob got out of his cover but Shepard stopped him before he got far. Jacob looked at Shepard and saw the look of distrust to Wilson and Jacob right then and there new of Shepard's intentions.

At the gate, Wilson was busy hacking through the door when Shepard and Jacob arrived. Wilson said without turning, "Come on, the shuttles are right throughthe…" Wilson was cut off, when Shepard slammed his head into the door in front of him.

Shepard turned him around and grabbed his throat and held him up straight. Then lead hi toward the desk terminal to the left of the door.

"Why'd you do it? Why help rebuild me and then try to kill me and the people on this station?" Shepard growled.

"Agh, you wouldn't understand." Wilson grunted in pain. Shepard got his conformation right there, that Wilson was the traitor of the group.

Jacob watched as, Shepard let go of Wilsons' throat and then punched with a lot of force in the nose, then grabbing the back of his head and smashing it into the computer terminal on the desk. Shepard is an N7 and was trained in infantry ground combat as N7 marine, counter terrorism and insurgency, which includes counter intelligence and information gathering.

Wilsons' head was on the computer and as bleeding from his nose and mouth and had a he grape fruit sized bruise on his right cheekbone where his face made contact with the computer. Shepard grabbed Wilson by the throat again and growled through his teeth, "I hope it was worth all those lives that you killed."

Wilson snorted in pain, "Like you care, they were all Cerberus…agh…you are Alliance, we are terrorist in your eyes."

Shepard head butted Wilson in the head without letting go of his neck but before Shepard can continue, the gate door opened and out came a woman with dark brown hair in a white and black skin tight suit in high heels.

Jacob saw Miranda walk out with a cold look in her eyes and elevated her pistol and shot Wilson in the head. Jacob surprised ran up to Miranda, "What the hell are you doing?!"

Miranda responded coldly, "My job, Wilson betrayed us all."

Shepard looked at Miranda and responded with anger, "We don't kill unarmed prisoners."

"You sure looked like you were going to kill him. I just made it less painful." Miranda replied with a sense of coldness.

"I was getting information out of him, I was going to bring him to the Illusive Man and yes I know who you are working for and the organization you are with."Shepard retorted.

Miranda looked at Jacob, "Ah Jacob, I knew your conscious will get the better of you."

"Lying to the Commander won't help us Miranda." He responded levelly.

She looked back at Shepard and with a hint of coldness said, "Now is there anything else we need to discuss before we leave the station Commander?"

Shepard looked at Miranda, "We were going to go find you, but since you are already here we don't need to. Lets go."

Miranda detected Shepard's honesty as she is very good judge of character, detected right off the bat he's honest and straightforward. He should be easy to handle. She turned around and walked to the shuttle.

"So that's the infamous Miranda huh?" Shepard asked while walking with Jacob to the shuttle. She certainly was beautiful but her attitude could use some work.

"You get used to her." Jacob said.


	4. Chapter 3: Lots of Questions Few Answers

**Mass Effect 2 Ch3: Lots of Questions Few Answers**

**All rights toward EA/BIOWARE Mass Effect universe, I don't own any of it, this is purely a fan fiction **

A lone Cerberus shuttle emerges from a small hangar deck of the Lazarus Station travelling at high speed; from the outside of the station it has no signs of battle. But Shepard, Jacob, and Miranda all know that the Station is lost along with most of the personnel, due to overwritten security protocols and a clever traitor. The Cerberus shuttle carrying the trio of survivors reached a safe distance away from the station and immediately jumped to FTL.

Onboard the shuttle, the trio sit and wait in the small passenger area while the nav. Computer navigates to their new destination. Shepard sits silently not knowing where the shuttle or Jacob and Miranda are taking him; he assumes they are taking him to see the Illusive man, the leader of Cerberus. Sitting silently, Shepard reflects on the events of today, wondering on everything he found out.

_What does Cerberus want with me? _Shepard thought to himself.

_Cerberus is a pro human splinter group. Terrorists. They were Enemies of the Council and the Alliance. Why do they need me?_

Shepard still had an impassive look on his face staring out of the shuttle view port, not giving away the turmoil he was thinking up inside. _I actually died. I can't, I can't believe that. What about my crew? My team? Ashley? _

Shepard's thoughts were cut short by Miranda's Australian voice. Shepard looked forward and sat up straight to face Miranda and Jacob sitting across from him.

"Before you meet the Illusive Man, we need to ask you a few questions to evaluate your condition." Miranda stated plainly.

"Come on Miranda, more tests? You've been testing on him for months now. Shepard took down those mechs without any trouble. That has to be good enough." Protested Jacob. He saw the old Commander in the fire fights on the station; it matched directly to the dossier about him.

Miranda retorted with authority, "It has been two years since the attack happened Jacob, the Illusive Man needs to know if Shepard's personality and memories are intact. We need the old Shepard not a new one." She faced Jacob then back at Shepard, "Now Jacob, ask the questions."

"I feel good, good as ever." Shepard paused, "for two years of me missing…still can't wrap my head around that." He still couldn't fathom what actually happened to him.

Miranda turned to Jacob, "The sooner we start the sooner we can be done. Start with personal history."

Jacob sighed and activated his Omni tool to record the conversation, "Okay. Records show you were a spacer kid. Raised mostly on one ship or another. Who were your parents?" The first personal history question Jacob gave off to Shepard.

Shepard was uncomfortable with the question about his family to strangers but with an impassive facial expression answered the question for the record, "Father was Thomas Shepard, an Alliance Marine. Killed in Action in a remote terminus colony against human insurgents." Shepard new very little of his father but decided not to dwell on it. "My mother Captain Hannah Shepard, executive officer of the Alliance dreadnought SSV Kilimanjaro." Now, Shepard knew everything about his mother, she practically raised him by herself. Now Shepard waited for the next round of questions.

Jacob jumped right into the next phase of questions, "You enlisted and got into Alliance Navy Special Warfare Command and later got transferred into Marine Corps shock trooper platoon in the Shock Trooper Expeditionary Unit then graduated from N school as an N7 special operator, and later won a metal fighting Batarians during the Skyllian Blitz. Do you remember that?" Jacob was pretty much reading off the dossier, seeing if Shepard actually remembers everything even though he died.

Shepard stared out the viewport again, and the memories of that time flashed through his mind. He didn't want to remember it, "A lot of lives depended on me holding that position. I did what I had to do. Most of my men died out there."

Shepard could still hear the screams when he's alone at night. The smell of battle, the brutality of war still haunts him everyday he walks. But Shepard loves his job and the Alliance, so life goes on and so must he.

"Whatever way you want to put it, it was damn impressive. I have friend that were there and saw what you did." Jacob stated admiringly.

"Can we ask why you tranferred into the Marine Corps Shock Troopers Shepard? to see if you remember the specifics." Miranda interrupted.

"I was transferred into the Marine Corps Shock Troopers because they needed more officers to lead their marines, so I volunteered. The Shock Troopers are the best of the best second to the 'N' program. A while after Elysium I later transferred back to the Navy as I already held a navy commission so therefore I was able to command an Alliance vessel." Shepard added to make sure Jacob and Miranda knew how he ended up a ship captain.

Jacob turned to Miranda, "Satisfied Miranda?" he exaggerated to get his point across.

Miranda turned back to look at Shepard ignoring Jacob's exaggeration, "Almost, now lets try something more recent." Miranda pretty much memorized the dossier on Shepard, " Virmire, where you destroyed Saren's cloning facility. You had to leave one of your team behind to die in the blast."

Jacob jumped in, "Lieutenant Kaiden Alenko was killed in action. It was your call. Why did you leave him behind?"

Shepard hated talking about those he lost. Because they were all friends to him when they died. "I left a friend to die that day and I didn't do it casually. He trusted me with his life and paid for the mission with his own. But I had to save as many lives as I could and Kaiden understood. Without him, I couldn't stop Saren, he died a hero."

Shepard still feels responsible for Kaiden's death, he was his responsibility and Shepard couldn't bring his whole team home. He can still remember what Kaiden was worried about before embarking on the attack with Captain Kirrahe, Kaiden was worried that not everyone will be coming back. Shepard assured him that the team will all come home. But they didn't. Shepard left one behind and he felt responsible. Kaiden trusted him and Shepard failed him. All Shepard can hope is that Kaiden can forgive him.

"I wasn't questioning your decision. Everybody at Cerberus knows that the cloning facility had to be destroyed" Jacob pointed out.

Miranda this time jumped in, "Shepard, think back to the Citadel, when the Alliance saved the destiny Ascension and you killed Saren. What happened next?"

Shepard answered quickly like he saw it happen yesterday, "Humanity was offered a seat on the Council, I recommended Captain Anderson for the job." Shepard knew how much Anderson hated politics, but that's what made Shepard choose him.

Miranda replied with current events, "Yes, Captain Anderson is now Councilor Anderson. Though what I hear, he preferred life in the military."

Jacob responded back, "Still, its good to know that the human Councilor won't put politics ahead of defense."

Shepard nodded and leaned forward and stared outside the window, wondering what happened to his friends and loved ones since he…died.

Miranda sat straight up and to Miranda's surprise; Shepard wasn't staring at Miranda's body like most men. She focused and got back to the job at hand. "Your memory seems solid, but there are tests we really should run."

Miranda's sophisticated mind started to detail things to test if Shepard is still the same. She stared at Shepard for a brief moment and calculated that everything about him was the same, based off his picture and dossier. Time will tell.

Jacob turned to Miranda and argued, "Come on Miranda enough with the quizzes. The memories are there and so is his personality, and I can vouch for Shepard's combat skills and tactics personally."

Jacob always knew that Miranda was always a perfectionist but this was starting to get crazy. He turned back to face Shepard and thought to himself, _why does she always have to make everything be perfect. _

_Shepard is clearly the same man as before we should just trust him, since we'll end up working with him. _Jacob just recently got hard on Miranda because they had a little bit of history in the past.

_Well that is Miranda. A perfectionist; I will trust her judgment as much as Shepard's. _Jacob's thoughts were cut short by Miranda talking.

"I suppose your right, I hope the Illusive Man accepts our little field test as evidence that Shepard is at hundred percent." Miranda said coldly.

Shepard looked at Miranda in the eyes and nodded, acknowledging her statement honestly.

* * *

The shuttle dropped out of FTL in a random star system in the far reaches of space right above a fertile lush world. The shuttle approached a large space station orbiting the lush planet, passing by support warships defending the station. The shuttle was like a speck to the large warships and even smaller than a speck to the long gigantic space station. The space station had an upward arch on the bottom of the station connected to a large column in the middle of the arch. The upward arch glowed florescent blue, lighting up the surrounding area it occupied. The shuttle was on its final approach to the station and started to decrease its speed.

Shepard looked out the viewport of the window to see all the spacecraft passing by. All Cerberus, even the station they were approaching.

_Great, this ought to be interesting_. He thought.

Next thing he knew was the airlock releasing, signaling that the shuttle was in the docking bay and is pressurized.

* * *

Miranda and Jacob got up and exited the shuttle followed by Shepard. The moment Commander Shepard exited the shuttle, the Cerberus docking staff all stopped what they were doing and watched Shepard walk with Miranda and Jacob out of the docking bay. Everyone seemed to know that the great Commander Shepard was dead, now he is out walking about again, that caught everyone by surprise.

Miranda and Jacob brought Shepard through a series of hallways to this lobby that was adjacent to what seemed to be an examining room of sorts. Miranda proceeded straight ahead to the far left corner to a computer terminal to do work, filing some reports mostly. Jacob hung a left immediately and stopped at the railing in front of the giant panoramic window, to be alone with his thoughts.

Shepard just stood there at the entrance of the lobby wondering what to do now. His mind quickly clicked to pay attention to Miranda speaking as though she read his mind.

"The Illusive Man would like to speak with you. Take the door straight ahead and follow the steps." Miranda pointed out plainly without looking at Shepard.

"Got it." Shepard said as he started walking in that direction. Only to look at Miranda's back for a brief moment as though he was silently acknowledging her order.

Shepard wouldn't lie she is very attractive, has the looks, even the body but that wasn't important. Her personality was cold though which was a big negative for Shepard, besides he still has Ashley. He hoped at least.

* * *

Shepard went through the small hallway and down two flights of stares to a medium sized square room with a very large ring on the ground. Shepard confused walked onto the ring and was taken by surprise when the ring glowed bright orange. The ring projected a hologram of an orange grid that formed the circumference of the ring, while it scanned Shepard's entire body. Shepard stepped back a bit and looked around. Shepard looked forward as the orange hologram turned into a picture of a dark room with a bright star being the main source of light. The hologram steadied as Shepard saw the man in a chair looking right at him with glowing blue eyes.

The man in a remote space station orbiting a bright star sat relaxed in the chair smoking his cigarette. The hologram of Shepard appeared in front of him and the man put his cigarette in his ashtray to prepare to talk to Shepard while he rotated his cup full of brandy on his left.

"Commander Shepard." The man said with a crusty old voice. Crossing his leg over each other and breathed evenly.

"Illusive Man. I'd thought we would be meeting face to face." Shepard changed his stature and leaned back crossing his arms.

The Illusive Man picked up his cup of brandy and looked up at Shepard slowly, "A necessary precaution. Not unusual for people who know what you and I know. The things that will drive normal people insane."

"Just because you saved my life doesn't mean I trust you. You are still Cerberus and I've seen what you've done." Shepard said deadpanned.

The Illusive Man replied calmly, "Those you've seen were beyond my control. You need to put your personal feeling aside and look at the bigger picture."

"What exactly are we talking about?"

"That one man ONE specific man might be the only thing standing in the way between Humanity and the greatest threat of our brief existence. Trust me or not, the outcome is on you." Illusive Man stared directly at Shepard with seriousness.

Shepard's jumped to the only possible answer, "The Reapers."

"Good to see your memory is intact." The Illusive Man said while he put his drink down on his left armrest. "How are you feeling?"

"Cerberus or not, cut to the chase, what are the Reapers doing that made you decide to bring me back. I can't be your only option." Shepard stood straighter.

The Illusive Man got up from his chair and approached Shepard's hologram, "You are the only option, you have what it takes to fight them and you know what they are capable of." The Illusive Man stopped in front of Shepard's hologram. "We are at war. No one wants to admit it but Humanity is under attack."

The Illusive Man lit a cigarette, "While you were sleeping, entire colonies have been disappearing, whole colonies without a trace. We believe someone is working with the Reapers. Just as Saren and the Geth aided Sovereign."

The Illusive Man stood straight, "You've seen it yourself. You bested all of them. That's just one reason why we chose you. You are our only option, no one can do what you can do, like make the decisions you can do. Humanity needs your skills."

Shepard was trying to connect the dots but probed for answers anyway, "Sovereign was trying to harvest all life in the galaxy. Why would the Reapers ONLY target human colonies?"

"Entire colonies have been lost, hundreds and thousands of colonist vanishing without a trace. I say that fits the definition of harvesting." The Illusive Mans took a puff from his cigarette, "No one ever notices because they are random and occur in remote locations. I don't know why they started targeting humanity, but it looks like you got their attention when you killed one of them."

The Illusive Mans face moved into a shadow only giving off the bright blue lights from his eyes.

Shepard decided to go with what his gut says, "Where do we start."

Whatever the Reapers are planning had to be stopped and he needed all the help he can get. So he'll play along with Cerberus for now, to see what's what. Since Cerberus is still the enemy he knows them to be, so he'll have to be careful. He'll play along, but Shepard would like to eventually make it back to the Alliance.

"Miranda said you would be hesitant to work with us, she's not usually wrong." The Illusive Man took another puff of his cigarette.

"Just remember it's 'With' not 'for', I'm helping you stop the Reapers that's it." Shot back Shepard

"Noted." The Illusive Man's expression didn't change. "I have a shuttle waiting for you to depart to Freedoms Progress, the latest colony that was abducted." The Illusive Man turned back to his seat and sat down. "Miranda and Jacob will brief you."

"I was going to take Wilson to someone in charge but Miranda killed him in cold blood. Will I be expecting a shot in the back?" Shepard stated plainly.

The Illusive Man put a hand on his temple to concentrate, "Wilson was one of my best agents but he was a traitor, Miranda did exactly what I expected of her. She'll help you along your mission."

"Alright what exactly am I looking for in the colony and what am I expecting?"

"If I knew what we would expect I wouldn't need to send you, wouldn't I." The Illusive Man took another puff of his cigarette, "Go to the colony, and find any clues you can, who's abducting the colonist, is there a connection to the Reapers." He leaned back in his chair and crossed his right leg over his left, "I brought you back. Its up to you to do the rest."

The Illusive Man tapped an interface on the right armrest to cut the communication. He leaned back calmly and breathed steadily, rotating his chair so he can see the view of the bright star through the tinted windows of the station.

* * *

Shepard stood their looking at a blank wall in a slightly dark room as the orange hologram ring disappeared around him. Shepard took a step back and walked up the steps to the lobby he was in before.

_Everything is still new to me, two years and everything has changed. I'm full of questions but have little answers. _

Shepard sighed as he got to the lobby. Both Jacob and Miranda were at their same spots where he last saw them. He decided to greet Miranda and get to know her a bit since he'll end up working with her later. He approached her casually to stir up a friendly conversation. She was standing in a straight posture, and her uniform fit skintight around her body, and her dark brown hair rested on her shoulders. Shepard was in awe, but had to stay professional, he had no time to act like a teenager.

Miranda was busy filing reports to the Illusive Man on the public station terminal in one of many small lobbies. She was focused on getting her work done but was interrupted by Shepard approaching her.

Miranda paid all her attention on her console and decided to talk to Shepard without looking up at him, feeling that she doesn't need to waste her time with another hero type.

"The Illusive Man is very impressed with you, I'm eager to see if you could live up to his expectations on this mission." Miranda said without looking up at Shepard. She didn't have time to make friends nor was she looking for any friends. She didn't have friends she had coworkers and she definitely wasn't romantically involved with anyone. She was always focused on the task at hand, no attachments of any kind. It makes it easier completing the mission.

Shepard stated friendly, "I never got to express my appreciation of what the Lazarus Project did for me."

Miranda looked up at Shepard finally and stood straighter, "I hope it was worth it, a lot of people lost their lives on that station."

She may have not been connected to anyone there but she didn't want their lives to be wasted by some hero with an arrogant attitude. She is still going to wait to see if her judge of character was spot on. Though she's usually right with these things.

Shepard detected the hint of coldness in her voice. "We have to work together here, your attitude isn't helping anything."

"I have the utmost respect of your abilities Shepard. It's your motivations that concerns me." She fired back with more cold in her voice, "I believe in what Cerberus stands for, only time will tell if you will become an asset or a liability to our cause."

_God, what's with her, she clearly doesn't want to talk and be friends. I might as well try because we will end up needing to trust each other later, if I am going to end up working with her. _

Shepard decided to continue to push his luck talking to Miranda about any questions he might have, like the mission and the Lazarus project. He knew she was busy but he still had questions that the Illusive Man didn't address.

"I want to know more about the Lazarus project from the person in charge."

"I wasn't in charge the Illusive Man was. If I was running the project I would've done a few things differently." Miranda said with disdain.

"Like what?" Shepard felt curious but knew just by looking at her it was something bad.

"First I would've implanted you with a control chip so we can keep you in check. But the Illusive Man didn't allow it, he was afraid it would change your personality alter your character some how." Her voice was full of cold, "He wouldn't allow anything that might have changed your potential in anyway." Miranda was straight and to the point, she was being honest, she didn't want Shepard to destroy Cerberus. She still doesn't understand why the Illusive Man didn't allow her to use a control chip on him.

"Well I'm glad I don't have a control chip in my head, like I would know." Shepard said jokingly trying to lighten the mood.

"The Illusive Man is taking an incredible risk. I just hope it pays off." Miranda said not sharing in Shepard's humor.

Shepard thought to himself for a moment and decided he overstayed his welcome. He decided in another course of action, to set his expectations since they will end up working together.

"I understand you aren't interested in talking, but when the bullets fly you can count on me to watch your back since we're working together. I need you to do the same." Shepard said with a stern voice, being the N7 special operator he was trained to be.

Shepard nodded with a serious face to Miranda for a moment and turned and walked away toward Jacob, intending to talk to him. Miranda watched his retreating form and before returning to her work. She had read on Shepard's tactics and habits during combat and they all fit her judge of character on him. He's reckless with his own life to save another and always puts himself in the line of fire for or with his team. He fits that hero vibe even though he doesn't show it, but time will tell.

Jacob was just staring into space literally, admiring the view. He been in space a long time but it always looks different and always has its natural beauty that he admired. His thoughts were interrupted when he saw Shepard approaching him. Jacob turned to his right and quickly snapped a salute to Shepard.

Shepard stopped and reflexively snapped a sharp salute back at Jacob. He was surprised that Jacob a Cerberus operative would treat him with such military manner like the Alliance. Both Shepard and Jacob stood at ease, and Shepard took a step forward so he can properly talk to Jacob.

"Everything going smooth Commander?" Jacob asked curiously, knowing that Shepard is still getting in the swing of things again after two years."

Like Shepard read his mind, "Yeah, kind of, still cant believe I've been out for two years and by 'out' I mean dead." He didn't want to dwell on it, what's done was done, "Tell me Jacob, how did you end up working with Cerberus. You don't fit the Cerberus personality."

"I was Alliance before joining up with Cerberus, so I know your feelings with Cerberus. To me they are a necessary evil to have in the bigger scheme of things."

"I see. But it doesnt mean I should trust Cerberus, cause I still dont." Shepard didn't really trust Cerberus and anyone who works for them really. But Jacob was a lot like him an idealist who wants to make a difference and the right choices in the long run.

"Do you trust me Commander?" Jacob asked curiously, wondering where he stood with his new commanding officer, he had to make sure the Commander could count on him.

"You're a good man Jacob, thanks for watching my back in the Lazarus station." Shepard stuck out his hand to Jacob.

Jacob shook Shepard's hand and they both nodded at each other. They both knew unit cohesion is important in a firefight, because each team member had to count on each other to watch each other's backs. It was always about fighting for the person next to you at the end of the day, and both Shepard and Jacob knew. Regardless who is taking the colonists they will ultimately end up fighting for each other no matter how big the team will be. Shepard decided he would ultimately have to get to know who ever will be working with him. If they expect to run into fire with him he better get to know them as much as he could.

"Well Jacob, lets get this show on the road." Shepard walked toward the exit door to get to the shuttles to go to Freedoms Progress. "Where do I get gear?"

"Follow Miranda she knows where the armory is. We'll brief you on the ride there." Jacob turned and signaled Miranda that they are going to prep for the mission.

Miranda nodded and led them out the door. Her heels clicked along on the metallic floor with every step she took. She walked normally but since she always wore her skintight black and white suit, it always looked like she intentionally swayed her hips and showed off her physical features. She knew most men and some Asari would admire her for those features and stare at her and undress her with their eyes. She always hated that behavior extremely and frowned upon it because it wasn't classy and proper.

* * *

The group turned into the armory to get weapons and armor for the mission. Miranda and Jacob went to respective lockers to grab their weapons and armor. For Jacob it was weapons and armor, but for Miranda it was just weapons, she didn't use armor because she couldn't move around in it as much. Shepard just went into weapon lockers and grabbed the weapons he needed.

He grabbed an M8 Avenger, M-3 standard Predator, M-27 scimitar shotgun, M92 Mantis sniper rifle, and found a heavy weapons locker and grabbed a grenade launcher. He then grabbed extra thermal clips for his weapons that used them; he'd rather me over prepared than under just to be safe, since he has no idea what would be waiting for him on the colony. Shepard even grabbed extra grenades for his grenade launcher in any event he would need to hit something heavy.

Miranda and Jacob watched him bewildered at his organization and knowledge of the weapons he has. All Jacob carried was a M5 Phalanx heavy pistol and a M27 Scimitar shotgun with extra thermal clips, and all Miranda carried was an M3 predator and M4 Shuriken, since she was reliant on biotic power she didn't carry extra thermal clips. As an N7 Shepard had to be a master of every type of firearm so he can use any weapon. Like one of many Marine Corps sayings, "One mind, any weapon", Shepard was deadly with any weapon in his hands indeed. Though Shepard always preferred an assault rifle for it's multifunctional abilities of hitting targets at great distance and at close proximity.

Shepard grabbed four hand grenades from a crate and finished up forming his load out for the mission. As he finished, he saw Jacob and Miranda presenting him combat armor for the mission and placed its parts in front of him. He stopped what he was doing and studied all the armors parts. It was the new N7 standard combat gear; complete with the red and white stripe on the side of the right shoulder plates and right arm guards, red stripe on the top center of the helmet, and the N7 logo on the right breastplate. Shepard turned to Jacob and Miranda and nodded toward them as he picked up the chest plate.

* * *

The door to the docking bay opened and out came a squad of three walking toward the shuttles. Shepard was in the middle and in front, with his helmet under his right arm and his weapons in compact form on his back and walked steadily with a look of determination in his eyes. Jacob was walking to Shepard's right wearing Kevlar lined and light flexible Onyx plated black and white Cerberus agent armor. Miranda was on Shepard's left wearing her normal skin tight black and white infiltration suit and swaying her hips naturally as she walked with Shepard toward the shuttles.

Jacob got inside the cockpit to pilot the shuttle to Freedoms Progress as Miranda and Shepard settled in the passenger compartment. He powered up the shuttle doing preflight checks of all systems and closed the exterior hatch on the passenger bay, pressurizing the shuttle. Moments after preflight checks he powered up the engines and got on the radio to the station flight control.

"Tower this is 'Sabre 0-1' requesting departure out of bay 0-2, over"

The radio crackled to life with a man in a stern voice, "Roger that Sabre 0-1 your are clear to launch, proceed to make starboard turn to exit, tower out."

Once the doors opened the shuttle launched at high speed, passing by all the Cerberus support vessels around the station. The shuttle was a mere speck leaving the large space station as it got into a safe FTL jump distance away from the station. The shuttle slowed down and then all of a sudden disappeared in a blur with a sudden burst of speed as it jumped away in FTL.

* * *

**I know I don't have perfect structuring on the writing and I'm not on the same level as writing as some of the really great writers here but I shall do my best. As I am doing my best.**

***Quote from Batman: Dark Knight Rises**

***USMC saying "One mind Any Weapon." **

***I made up the story of Shepard's father basing off the basis of some human colonies wanting to separate them selves from the Alliance like in HALO **

***I put Shepard as a Marine because the Navy wouldn't dispatch a special operations unit to defend a strategic location, they would have the Marines do that. Navy Special Forces would be more active on fighting threats and stopping threats. I also made Shepard start out in the Navy so he will still be able to command a naval vessel. So the Battle at Elysium I believe was Marines and Batarians.**

***Shepard as a Marine because OORAH **

***Shepard enlists becomes part of Naval Special Warfare Command later volunteers for Marine Corps Shock Trooper Expeditionary Unit (MEU: Marine Expeditionary Unit Today) fights in Elysium gets awarded later transfers back to Navy and commands the Normandy in the events of Mass Effect**

***Shock Trooper Expeditionary Unit is like the USMC MEU**


End file.
